Coinbase, Blockstream and Strategy are backing a push to give qualified crypto defenders greater access to frontier AI cybersecurity models.
The Bitcoin Policy Institute-led initiative was announced Aug. 10 with support from more than 40 organizations across the digital-asset and open-source ecosystem. It asks leading AI labs to provide early access to advanced models where appropriate, enough compute for sustained security reviews and protected environments for private or embargoed code.
The campaign also calls for eligibility rules that do not shut out smaller nonprofits and independent maintainers, arguing that the imbalance is becoming more dangerous as AI improves the ability to discover and exploit software vulnerabilities.
Indeed, the crypto industry has seen an increase in AI-linked attacks in recent times. Capriole Investments founder Charles Edwards said cyberattacks have doubled since ChatGPT's release and risen another 20% since September, an increase he linked to the emergence of agentic AI.
Yet security researchers trying to defend crypto infrastructure say they still struggle to use comparable AI capabilities in response.
Anchor Watch CEO Rob Hamilton provided the clearest example, saying OpenAI blocked him from continuing security research on a codebase despite having completed KYC and the company's cyber-program onboarding.
Hamilton said:
“Black hats will not hit these issues. The white hats will. We've hit a local minima in policy. Intelligence is unrestricted for those who don't follow rules, and those who engage in harm reduction are left on the sidelines.”
Hamilton's experience illustrates BPI's concern that vetting alone does not guarantee usable access. Even approved researchers can still be blocked when legitimate defensive work resembles the offensive activity that frontier-model safeguards are designed to restrict.
OpenAI and Anthropic are already widening cyber access
Over the past year, frontier AI labs are already building programs aimed at resolving that tension.
On Aug. 10, OpenAI expanded its Daybreak cybersecurity initiative, the same day BPI announced its campaign, although neither side has linked the developments.
The company split access into Daybreak Blue and Daybreak Red and introduced GPT-5.6-Cyber, a model designed for advanced cybersecurity work that would normally trigger stronger safeguards.
OpenAI acknowledged that production protections can block legitimate defensive requests and said the new model responds to feedback from security researchers who encountered persistent refusals.
In internal testing covering advanced tasks including exploit-chain development, authentication bypass and privilege escalation, OpenAI said GPT-5.6-Cyber completed 95% of requests. GPT-5.6 Sol completed 1.5%, while the same model accessed through Daybreak Blue completed 2%.
Access remains restricted to approved users. OpenAI requires identity verification, stronger account security, monitoring, approved-use restrictions and legal attestations, while the Red tier provides more permissive capabilities for advanced authorized testing.
Anthropic has taken a similar approach with Project Glasswing.
The program initially gave roughly 50 organizations access to its advanced Claude Mythos Preview model before Anthropic said in June that it was expanding participation to about 150 additional organizations across more than 15 countries.
Anthropic also committed up to $100 million in model-usage credits and $4 million in direct support for open-source security groups.
That funding addresses another element of BPI's request. Even approved researchers may struggle to conduct long-running vulnerability searches if the cost of operating frontier models or usage limits cut investigations short.
